It may not look like it, but Alain Ducasse is leading a war against globalization. “To do our craft is a political act; it’s the will to not be under anyone’s influence, but rather to be an influence,” he says.

The chef, who started out plucking turkeys at a roadside diner on his winter break from high school in southwestern France (“At the end of the season my mother asked me, ‘Do you still want to be a chef?’ I said yes.”), now runs a restaurant empire that spans from Vegas to Tokyo, plus a culinary school and his own publishing house. What’s more global than that.

What he means, really, is the dumbing-down of food, the creeping same-ification that has KFCs in Beijing and Bangalore selling chicken straight outta Louisville.

“It’s the will to not look like your neighbor,” he says. On a FIAF panel recently with three of New York’s original food craftspeople—Niki Russ Freedman of Russ & Daughters, Mark Israel of Doughnut Plant, and Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery—Ducasse was more interested in talking mass revolution than dishing on doughnuts, because to him the two are one and the same. By preserving the traditions of the past or putting a new, personal spin on their genre, artisans like these are singlehandedly fighting off the the industrial food army.

Part of his plan of attack is to write a series of tour guides-slash-food porn collections of his favorite cities. J’Aime Paris and J’Aime Monaco are already out, with Tokyo and London on the way. But of course, the recently released J’aime New Yorkis the one he loves best, in part because NYC is so massive.

“Really, we could do a new book every year—this is just a snapshot of New York in 2012-2013,” he says. His list of essential NYC spots covers the high-low spread, from underground Chinese to haute hot dogs. The collection of all 150 picks will set you back a Benjamin, but we got Ducasse and co-author Alex Vallis to volunteer his top 10 dishes from the book for free right here.

J’aime New York is available for purchase at Alain-Ducasse.com, Abrams Books and in most major retailers. The e-book version is now available for download from the App Store for iPad only.

Broccoli, olives, onions, chilies and pecorino sardo at Franny’s

This is what happens when an advocate for sustainable agriculture (Francine Stephens) marries a chef with a passion for Italian food and pizza (Andrew Feinberg). “The chefs who came to eat wanted to come work with us,” says Stephens. Late summer, there’s no question that you’ll find the perfect heirloom tomatoes. Fall might bring sliced pears, sunchokes, and hazelnuts, blanketed by a flurry of Pecorino. Feinberg’s star clam pie remains constant, covered in shucked clams with fresh cream, parsley, and dried Sicilian chilies. Stephens focuses on Italian wines made with indigenous varietals: “It’s a combination of producers whom I’ve met and respect for their farming techniques,” she says. For dessert, a flawless panna cotta has a supple creaminess that’s just right.

Oatmeal doughnut at Doughnut Plant

A doughnut innovator, Mark Israel makes seasonal fruit glazes, fills Blackout cake with chocolate cream, and trademarked the Jelly Filled Square (house-made jam in every bite). His doughnut ballooned with crème brûlée might be the most popular order, but the Chelsea location sells an oatmeal cake ring—sprinkled with oats and bits of dried fruit—that’s a textural masterpiece. If you can take your eyes away from what’s left in the case, you’ll see doughnut shapes everywhere from the tiles on the wall to the backs of wooden chairs.

Steak tartare at Estela

We came here after the artisan culinary panel at FIAF—Alex's husband is a partner. The steak tartare is a fantastic play of textures and flavors, with crunchy slivers of sunchoke, tangy pickled elderberries, and beef heart for meaty intensity.

Viennoise and a beer for Sunday brunch at DBGB Kitchen & Bar

“Burgers, bangers, and beer are the mark of casual me rather than the fancy me uptown," says chef Daniel Boulud. "I felt that everywhere you travel in the world, there’s always great sausage to discover. We’re going Louisiana andouille with gumbo. Merguez on braised spinach with lemon and mint conveys the rustic and yet exotic flavors of Tunisia. On Sundays, I like the Vermont pork link with oozy Cheddar cheese inside, which is served with a pommes de terre macaire (has browns), crème fraîche, and a fried egg. The bar focuses on microbreweries; we have 22 beers on draft.”

Carrot salad at ABC Kitchen

Jean-Gorges Vongerichten says he and Dan Kluger, the chef at this eco-chic annex to ABC’s monumental home store, met over vegetables in Union Square and “became market friends.” Both know how to bring out intense seasonal flavors. Crab toast arrives on sourdough with garlic-lemon aioli and gets its kick from green chili. Carrots are roasted whole with thyme, cumin, and dried red chili for a salad with avocado, sprouts, sour cream, and citrus dressing. Vongerichten explains, “I like chilies, Thai chilies, jalapenos. I’m using a bit of bite everywhere. It’s about creating that craving."

French fries with wasabi or horseradish mayo and pomegranate teriyaki dipping sauces at Pommes Frites

This rustic Belgian-inspired aberration pops up on a busy East Village avenue with an enticing specialization: French fries and a wide variety of fresh sauces. You marvel at the diverse selection while an attendant behind the counter drops rough-cut potatoes into a mix of corn and sunflower oil. The starchy edges fry crisp in varying degrees from soft gold to brown and crunchy. Those who don’t take away their paper cones of frites can commandeer a table in the back for easy sit-down dipping. Ketchup, vinegar, and a “European mayo” are free, but it’s worth paying $1 for extras like creamy horseradish, or sweet-tart pomegranate teriyaki.

Recognized by the Smithsonian Institute as a thriving example of Jewish cultural heritage in New York, this gourmet shop specializes in “appetizing”—described as goods one eats with bagels—and traces its history on the Lower East Side back to the early 1900s. Family members with four generations of expertise sell an unequaled selection of smoked fish from wild Western Nova salmon to hot-smoked brook trout. It’s a classic place to shop or pick up a sandwich covered in cream cheese and your choice of seafood from the case.

Chocolate egg cream at Brooklyn Farmacy

“A Pink Poodle and a Purple Cow walk into a bar….” That’s the beginning (and end) of an ice-cream-float joke told by Peter Freeman, who opened this soda fountain with sister Gia Giasullo. With original pharmaceutical cases and penny-tile floor, the project harks back to the early 20th century, when drugstores distinguished themselves with sweet, handmade soft drinks. One of Freeman’s creations—pink hibiscus syrup with fresh seltzer and Hudson Valley vanilla ice cream—bubbles up like a poodle’s pompadour, hence the name. Alongside staple egg creams and sundaes, seasonal syrups invigorate the menu—the Purple Cow, made with Concord grape soda, is available only through fall. The siblings have preserved a piece of culinary history, and their old-fashioned utopia is further defined by its clientele: “On any given day you can have age ranges from 6 to 80 all at the same counter. There are people born and raised here and people who came here a month ago, and everybody is finding something in this place, something here that they love,” says Freeman.

Dumplings at Golden Mall

There are beautiful things to eat on street level in Flushing’s Chinatown—puffy scallion pancakes frying on a griddle, steamed pork buns in baskets—but American banks and pharmacies are still within view. Descend a flight of stairs to Golden Mall’s lower level, and you’ll be transported to a small maze of regional Chinese vendors. At Xi’an Famous Foods, a woman stretches dough for noodles topped with cumin- fragrant lamp. Across the way at Lanzhou Handmade Noodles, families eat soup at a long table. Xie’s Family Dishes sells a dozen juicy dumplings filled with pork, shrimp, and chives for a $3 meal.

Fried chicken sandwich at Diner

The name Diner might seem like a misnomer, given such a progressive menu of seasonal American food, but Andrew Tarlow’s pioneering Williamsburg restaurant does keep diner hours. It opens when others close—in blizzards, during hurricanes, and on the Fourth of July. Servers scribble descriptions of the market-driven dishes on paper lining your table: vibrant salads with raw and roasted elements, fettuccine with chanterelles, grass-fed steak. In a continued show of Brooklyn brilliance, this mobbed diner car spawned a gustatory strip. At Marlow & Sons, a general store and restaurant next door, you can order oysters and Champagne, or a cappuccino to go in a sustainable cup. Marlow & Daughters, the larder down the block, sells meat butchered from whole farm-raised animals and even bags made with the cow’s leather.

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